In bars, outdoor spaces, movie theaters and homes, Puerto Rico came to a standstill on Sunday to passionately and proudly follow the Super Bowl halftime show of fellow countryman Bad Bunny, which was filled with references to Puerto Rican culture.
Many establishments on the island organized ‘viewing parties’ for Bad Bunny’s fans to gather to watch the ‘Benito Bowl’ on giant screens, as the show was called in Puerto Rico, alluding to the artist’s own name.
Puerto Rico celebrates Bad Bunny
From @TheAthletic: Our reporter is in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and it was packed two hours before game time. There were a sea of Bad Bunny fans wearing shirts that say “I’m just here for the Benito Bowl.”
Follow live updates for the Super Bowl: https://t.co/Su3PnqoIAJ pic.twitter.com/og05zSvj6c
– The New York Times (@nytimes) February 8, 2026
In Vega Baja, the singer’s hometown, the gathering took place in the main square, while in San Juan some of the most crowded events were held in El Escambrón, by the sea, and in Distrito T-Mobile.
In the latter place, the attendees danced salsa and perrearon to the rhythm of ‘Tití me preguntó’, ‘Baile inolvidable’ or ‘Lo que le pasó a Hawai’, which was performed by the also Puerto Rican Ricky Martin sitting on the emblematic white plastic chairs that appear on the cover of the album ‘Debí tirar más fotos’ (I should have taken more pictures).
“He was super brutal. He broke it in the Super Bowl doing something historic and unique and putting Puerto Rico on high,” Roselyn Quiñones, who enjoyed the event in the T-Mobile District, told EFE.
Great emotion was caused by the constant references to Puerto Rico during the show: ‘the little house’, the palm trees, the farmers, the gentlemen playing dominoes, boxing, the Puerto Rican flag and the electric poles, which with the song ‘El apagón’ denounced the critical situation of the island’s electrical network.
The audience was also passionate about the music chosen, which included reguetón, including parts of songs by legends Tego Calderón and Daddy Yankee, plena and salsa, with Lady Gaga in the spotlight.
Expectations were high, and it did not disappoint.
Nobody wanted to miss “Bad Bunny’s concert,” as many people jokingly commented, alluding to the fact that they were interested in the singer’s performance and not so much in the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Although some, like Bad Bunny and sports fan Carlos Miranda, were watching the game and noted the Puerto Rican representation at the game itself: Federico Maranges of the Seattle Seahawks.
“As a Puerto Rican, I feel extremely proud,” Miranda, an executive at an air conditioning company, told EFE about the presence of both the player and the singer at the important Super Bowl event.
The venues, as well as numerous homes where friends and family gathered, featured decorations, plates and glasses with images alluding to Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican culture such as the pava (straw hat) and the sapo concho (local frog).
Bad Bunny made history by becoming the first Latin singer to perform as a solo artist at the Super Bowl halftime show, several days after becoming the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Record of the Year -all in Spanish- for ‘Debí tirar más fotos’ (I Should Have Thrown More Pictures).
The choice of Bad Bunny generated controversy among U.S. conservatives due to the fact that the artist sings in Spanish and has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policy on numerous occasions.
With information from EFE
